The disclosures herein relate generally to fuel dispenser systems and more particularly to determining the hardware configuration of a specific fuel dispenser.
Fuel dispensers exist in a wide variety of configurations for dispensing multiple grades of fuel. For example, some dispensers are configured to dispense three grades of fuel, or products, from a three hose dispenser, whereas another dispenser may be configured to dispense three products from a one hose dispenser including a blender.
In the past, a field service technician would spend a substantial amount of time setting up a new dispenser configuration by setting several possible parameters to a certain value, with a limited amount of possible feedback, to enable the dispenser to operate correctly according to its desired configuration. The fuel dispenser, regardless of configuration, contains various electronic hardware devices such as a motor valve board, an LCD display, a fuel selection keypad, a preset module and pulser which controls volumetric measurement. Parameters for each device must be set in order for the desired configuration to function properly.
These electronic devices are becoming more intelligent due to the low cost of microcontrollers. Each intelligent device must be programmed to perform its function and this leads to a proliferation of software features and revisions. It is often necessary for the software to know what devices are present in order for the system to function properly.
For servicing and repairing the dispensers, it would be helpful for the field service technician to know in advance how the system is configured so that proper service equipment can be dispatched for the service call.
Therefore, what is needed is a means for determining how a fuel dispenser system is configured, by identifying specific equipment in the system so as to indicate whether that configuration, as set up, will or will not work properly.